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Samsung is teaming up with WeWork for its own version of Apple’s Genius Bar

If you break an iPhone, your next step is simple: you schedule an appointment at a Genius Bar and hope that someone can fix it. If you’ve got a Samsung phone, though, things are a little harder, but Samsung is looking to change that with a new pilot program. The company is teaming up with WeWork to provide “care centers,” as reported by Fast Co Design.

The idea is two-fold: first, you have a central place to come and get help with your Samsung products, and second (this is where WeWork comes in) you’ll have a place to get some work done while you’re waiting for your phone or laptop to get repaired. As Mick McConnell, Samsung’s VP of design, puts it, “Service is a hassle. I know I’m going to have to take time out of my day to do it,” so why not provide a place where people can still be productive while they wait?

It’s a nice idea in theory, but in practice, Samsung is only offering “tier 1” support at the WeWork locations for now — that is, help with using your device, or assistance in mailing it to be repaired offsite — but there’s no “tier 2” support yet for things like actual repairs. So while what Samsung is offering now at the WeWork is probably useful, but it’s not the kind of emergency repair and troubleshooting that people tend to rely on the Genius Bar for.

Still, its an interesting first step, and one can easily imagine Samsung expanding both the number of locations and the level of support if this pilot is successful.